NSA vs. Private Sector Snooping - False Flag

paul - Sat, 01/18/2014 - 14:39

In reading various articles, blogs, and comments I've observed quite a few individuals support the NSA's activity in gathering the electronic records of US citizens and other residents. The argument they use is that the private sector, organizations like communication and Internet based companies, have been doing this for years. Slurping our data at every corner as we make phone calls or browse the web.

While I'm not a fan of all this data collection by private concerns I can understand some of their intent in doing so. Some of it is used to provide a better user experience. Some of it is used for optimization of their infrastructure. Of course, they also use it to direct advertising. The bulk of the activity by these companies is directed at enhancing their bottom line. Overall their data collection is benign in behavior. Malicious activity by a private sector company is usually detected quickly by the public and continuance can cause them more harm than good.

The NSA, a very secretive portion of the US government, on the other hand has none of the concerns of a private sector organization. It has no interest in making a profit, only absorbing more dollars in the name of protecting the citizens and residents of the US and other countries from their widely scoped definition of terrorism.

Whereas private sector organizations fall under the laws of the land as well as the eyes of the public in much of their activity, the NSA is not under such critical analysis, nor does their existence depend on benefiting their clients.

The biggest difference between NSA snooping and the private sector, beyond intentions, is the NSA is backed by armed forces. Guns and force are the utilities of the NSA and government.

I might be more concerned about AT&T snooping my data if they had a military, but they don't.

Using the argument that the private sector snoops, so why not the NSA, is a cleverly deceptive construction.